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Kentucky Court Strikes Down Lesbian Adoption
The Kentucky Court of Appeals says lesbians cannot be allowed to adopt children as though they are stepparents. It handed down a unanimous 3-0 ruling in a case in which it ruled that Jefferson County Family Court Judge Eleanore Garber ignored the law by allowing a lesbian couple to adopt under provisions established for new marriage partners of a biological parent, The Courier-Journal in Louisville reported. Noting that same-sex marriages are banned in Kentucky, the court stated in a 62-page opinion that Garber used a “wink-wink” and a “nod-nod” to allow a lesbian couple to adopt a child illegally. According to the newspaper, Judge Glenn Acree wrote for the court, “It is not this or any court’s role to judge whether the legislature’s prohibition of same-sex marriage…is morally defensible or socially enlightened. Nor is it this or any court’s role…to craft any means by which the legal consequences of such a prohibition may be negated or avoided.”

Couple Protests Gender-Neutral Labels
A California couple says they refuse to be known as “Party A” and “Party B” on their marriage license, instead insisting on the terms “bride” and “groom.” In the gender-neutral language adopted by the State of California in the wake of its approval of same-sex marriages, “bride” and “groom” have been replaced by the unspecific “party” designations in marriage licenses. But Rachel Bird and Gideon Codding of Sacramento, California, state they’re old-fashioned, The Sacramento Bee reported. “We are traditionalists—we just want to be called bride and groom,” Bird, 25, told the newspaper. “Those words have been used for generations, and now they just changed them.” Because the two have refused to complete the new forms, their marriage is not registered with the state. Consequently, Bird is unable to sign up for Codding’s medical benefits or legally take his name. Bird informed the newspaper they are “exploring their options.”

Takei Weds Longtime Beau in California
Star Trek icon George Takei has married Brad Altman, his partner of 21 years, in Los Angeles. The couple announced in May their plans to wed after California’s Supreme Court legalized gay marriage under the state’s constitution. “All I can remember is what the priest said—that this moment will never happen again. It’s something to savor,” Takei, 71, told People Magazine after the Buddhist ceremony, which about 200 of the couple’s friends and family members attended. The reception was on the grounds of the Japanese American National Museum, according to People.com. “I was fighting back the tears,” Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura on Star Trek, told People. “But they came oozing out anyway. I’m so happy that they’re both able to legally proclaim their commitment to one another after spending the past 21 years together.” She served as maid of honor at the wedding. Walter Koenig, who played Chekhov on the popular science-fiction show, was best man. Takei is famous for playing Sulu on the series.

Judge Slams Same-Sex Adoption Ban
A judge in Florida has ruled the state’s 31-year-old ban on adoptions by openly gay men and women is unconstitutional. Monroe County Circuit Judge David J. Audlin Jr. issued the ruling in the case of a gay Key West foster parent who seeks to adopt the special-needs teenage boy he has been taking care of, The Miami Herald reported. Audlin, who declared the adoption to be in the boy’s “best interest,” said the Florida law forbidding gay people to adopt children is unconstitutional. “Contrary to every child welfare principle, the gay adoption ban operates as a conclusive or irrebuttable presumption that…it is never in the best interest of any adoptee to be adopted by a homosexual,” Audlin wrote. A home study by a Florida social worker “highly” recommended the foster father and his partner be allowed to adopt the boy, saying they provided a “loving and nurturing home.”